Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.
Today, Kim from the UK chronicles her farewell to her excess books and clothes. She shares her creative pursuits (and lovely photos) on her blog.
Kim writes:
I have always been just as drawn to the nose-slicing, paper-white freshness of a brand new book as I am to the weathered and crisp, sun-cooked pages of a many-times loved paperback. I love the fragility of pages curled at their edges falling away from spine of old, hardened glue. I’m a lifelong bibliophile and this love of books has always formed part of my identity. My collection spanned shelves and genres and was a great source of quiet pride. I could only envisage a future where they would quietly procreate and spread, mirroring my current interests and hopes. I always pictured a home where all the walls were bookshelves and there was always an underlying note of musty books cutting through the bouquet of other fragrances. I adore the graphic simplicity of a good book cover, art in a beautifully condensed form, and the way books stimulate all five senses.
One day, I stood in the living room of my Victorian terrace, turned a slow pirouette, and realised that I felt claustrophobic. The staggering array of things in such a small sample of my house suddenly overwhelmed me. I became aware that this visual clutter was slowing my creative urges to stagnation. I wanted to do more, write more and make more with my free time but so much of it was spent rearranging, re-ordering, unpacking, repacking, stacking and changing. It had left me exhausted and detached. I wondered how it would feel to free up my environment, to own less and to have less stuff in every line of sight. This idea permeated through my mind like spilled ink over blotting paper, it might actually feel good. As people progress through life, they generally own more and more. If I could progress through life and own less and less until I reached my ideal level of ownership, this could constitute real progress. I wouldn’t be accumulating stuff, I would be creating time.
This train of thought whipped my mind into a frenzy. I had an unrestrained urge to begin clearing space. For me, there were two obvious places to begin – books and clothing. Then I stalled, I assumed I would be deeply attached to my 2000 or so books, a collection 28 years in the making, I knew every single one, could use them to trace my own little history. How could I part with that? I decided to try it a little at a time, removing paperbacks I knew I had no interest in re-reading. I filled my bike basket and quickly cycled the first batch to a charity shop. The world didn’t end, this was interesting. From that point I felt more confident, a million lines of print flew from the shelves and into the arms of friends. I realised that I enjoyed watching people discover new books as much as I had enjoyed reading them myself. My excessive collection of clothes went the same way, a tactile explosion of the threadbare, the unworn and unloved made their way, again in my bike basket, to charity bins.
Not that everything was plain sailing. Out of sight and very much out of mind, tucked into the eaves of my father’s house, there is a collection of children’s books I inherited. Passed down through four generations, what these books lack in relevance, they make up for with charming and naive illustrations in evocative palettes. Their distinctly worn patina is the scent of my childhood. I have no inclination to pass them to further generations, they probably wouldn’t want them anyway. Despite this, it’s taken me several months to firmly set the target of selling them to a dealer. Also clogging my mental to-do list is to start selling some of the clothes and accessories I paid embarrassing amounts for. It somehow lessens the guilt of owning them but not wanting them. The most important lesson I have learnt is that this is a process and you have to let it run it’s course. I have quite a visual mind and can clearly picture where I want to be. Rather than letting this frustrate me, I try to use it to inspire me to make progress in quiet moments. The stream of stuff leaving my life has slowed from the initial torrent of icy, Alpine meltwater, but, so long as the stream keeps flowing, I’m happy with where I am.
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I have a very similar mindset, but I can’t quite subscribe to the extremes of selling family heirloom books, which are on display and regularly enjoyed!
In my mid-30s I clung to my books and felt much the same, only wanting to be surrounded by my books and be absorbed in them. At the time we lived in a big house where the books were scattered through the rooms incohesively and I could never find anything.
Then my life took a rather dramatic turn and I moved to a much smaller house but where I was able to reserve one whole, smallish room to my books. I lined the walls with bookshelves and all the family’s books were in the same place, not a single one (except what was currently being read) was outside the room: it really was bliss. Having said that, I did begin to cull my books before that move or they would not have fit in that room! My process was very similar, beginning with paperbacks I knew I wouldn’t really ever read again. The books I kept and now keep are those which I return to often, either for pleasure or reference – perhaps that is the main criteria for keeping anything.
This culling has continued through another house move, except this time, I live in a beautiful, tiny and very old house and have no separate space for my books. I have become increasingly frustrated that the bookcases are on three different levels… however, having decluttered so many and in the last couple of years switching to a Kindle app for casual reading going forward, my collection has almost stopped growing. Although I would never get rid of my beloved old books that will never be available on Kindle (or very specialised ones, also not available on Kindle), the collection has become so much more manageable that I am presently putting into action a new plan to keep them all together in one place – bliss once more! I’m very excited to have it all at my fingertips again – as I don’t watch TV and perhaps spend too much time at a screen, this is the best antidote :)
Clothing wise, I have found it better not to even consider the original cost of anything… I have thrown out countless bags of clothes in the last 15 years since I realised I was hoarding, having found that I not only held onto my own clothes but my childrens’ clothes. Yes, a tiny proportion of those did go on to my grandchildren and it’s cute when they turn up in “mommy’s clothes”, but I was extremely selective, one box for each of my children. With my own wardrobe, I have struggled for years, attempting to build an appropriate wardrobe for varied seasons and particular lifestyle (and Francine’s is very versatile) and buying clothes that then still didn’t work, either in wear or in care, and then getting rid of them again but I have seen it as an ongoing process and now, slowly, I am getting there. It took me a very long time but I’ve stuck with and decluttering has become something I do as a habit throughout my home on a regular basis.
I find that extreme minimalism doesn’t work for me or my lifestyle because it’s not just me, I have a husband and family, but “less is more” is definitely a mantra to follow and preserves my sanity!
Very timely post… I’m about to buy my very first Kindle… So one day I will only have a very small selection of books that aren’t available on Kindle but still much-loved…
Great post Kim! I agree with you that we accumulate stuff as time goes by but just to a point; then we start downsizing and not necessarily by choice. My parents lived in houses filled with stuff all their married life until they could no longer manage. They moved into a condo at the age of 75 (got rid of lots of furniture and things) then into a retirement residence at the age of 83 (which comprisess of a small bedroom and a living room with a little corner for fridge and microwave. The first time I visited them in the residence, it suddenly hit me. All those years of collecting things, e.g. spending a fortune on books (specially hardcover), dishes for this and dishes for that, furniture everywhere and you end up in a small little suite or room with the most important things that you kept to furnish it. So I’m hoping to avoid all of that by living a minimalistic life and spending my money on things I enjoy like travelling, supporting my favourite charities and helping friends whenever I can.
Hi Kim…beautifully written. Wonder if you kept any of your books? I am a bibliophile too and realize I couldn’t get rid of all my books. I have shelf room for about 600, so that’s what I allow myself. And they are reread and enjoyed. When I start to see piles of books on the floor I know it’s time to donate or sell some :)
Hi Vintagekaren – I have kept some books, those which I love but aren’t available as an ebook and some photography/design books. I also kept my collection of vintage Penguin Russian classics, I know they are all available as ebooks, but it’s a small collection and I don’t intend to buy any more.
The main realisation I came to was that I could keep those things which, after much deliberation, I decided had a place in my life. It does feel good to have a new perspective on the rest of everything I own/owned. One bonus, so many people have commented on how great our house looks now that the things we do own have room to breathe.
I doubt I’ll ever get rid of all my books. I am, however, in the process of getting rid of those that I don’t use regularly or that I know for sure can easily be checked out from the library (like classics). Also, in reading all the books I’d bought but never read!
This blog post was the most well written of its kind to appear on this blog. Very proud of your accomplishments, Kim!
You are a great writer! I really enjoyed reading this :)
“The world didn’t end”…..I’ll keep this in mind as I decide what to part with today!
Helen :)
So timely for me! One of the last places I reserved to purge is my books. It’s tough, I love books too. But it’s time. I own a Nook so I don’t really buy books anymore accept cookbooks and for now I am putting that on hold. I always think I’ll re-read things but in reality I never do…and if I want to pretty much everything I have can be found in e-book form. I’ll never get rid of my mother’s vintage art books and my favorite cookbooks but I’ve got to take a hard look at everything else…Plus we are moving soon and books are heavy…less to move to the better.
Your beautifully written words about suddenly feeling claustrophobic amongst your stuff resonates loud and clear with me! I much prefer wide, empty, SPACE. But it does take effort and habit changes to get there.
Thanks so much for sharing your story with us, Kim!
What a brilliant piece of writing. That was a joy that was to read. Thank you Kim!
I have recently found myself parting with the majority of my book collection and it’s always an on going process. It always has been. :)
Good luck on the rest of your journey.
I got rid of a lot of my books because either I never got around to reading them or the library has them or can get them for me. I kept some craft books from the 70’s which I got at garage sales and a few craft books I got as gifts. I only have 2 or 3 shelves of books instead of several bookcases full. I find it very freeing to be rid of so many paperbacks. I also have 100 books that belong to my mother. When we got rid of her moldy books, we alphabetized a few of her favorite out of print books to move here. I take 3-4 to the nursing home each week for her to read. She had kept these few in plastic so they didn’t smell.
I have been getting rid of more of my paperbacks. As I reread some, I wonder why I kept them. I am also getting rid of a few of my DVD’s. We can get them from the library and we don’t watch some of these, even once a year. Our next move is to only get the newspaper on Sunday. We watch the news on TV. And we read the paper at the library.
I collect earrings. I have been giving away the cheap ones and only keeping the ones I collect. 3 brands. I find them at garage sales, thrift stores, and occasionally, I get them for gifts. I keep them in plastic containers meant to hold screws or nails so they take up very little space.